The play of Rob Gronkowski (pictured) and teammate Aaron Hernandez has other teams trying to match their success. (FILE:USPresswire)

The Patriots have obviously caught everyone's attention thanks to the offensive success of tight ends Aaron Hernandez and Rob Gronkowski over the past two seasons, and it appears that the Minnesota Vikings would like to see the same thing from two of their own players this season.

"If we can take both of those aspects of their game and implement it to what we're doing here, we have a chance to be successful," said Rudolph, the Vikings' second-round draft pick a year ago who has a similar build to Gronkowski at 6 feet 6 inches and 258 pounds.

Fowler also writes that they're taking a conservative approach when it comes to "mirroring" New England.

"To compare us to those two tight ends is not something I'm going to do right now," said Carlson, who signed a five-year, $25 million deal in March after four seasons with Seattle. "We've got a lot of work to do; we have a long ways to go. It's been done. It's being done out there. We have to work to improve to get toward that point."